I finally got my Carpenter friend and his helper over here this morning to straighten up my porch. Even tho it was not level when we bought the place, it had progressively gotten worse and I couldn't put it on the market looking like this.

After much deliberation and conversation we decided to raise the low end up to match the highest end and kept our fingers crossed that the roofing or soffits wouldnt' start buckling. They had two shop jacks under it and finally got it leveled and then cut spacers to fill in the void that was left. The low end had to come up 5 3/4" (OUCH) and I was really worried but it went just as planned with no problems.

We also think that the problem was at the base of the posts and that they had sunk down thru the concrete because when they lifted it up the posts tried to raise up out of the concrete slab.

Looks pretty good, huh? I need to wrap the 4x4 posts to cover up the correction they did but I can't find any full 1x4 or 1x6 lumber and I sure don't want to rip 16 &#%@$& 8' pieces of lumber. ANY IDEAS????

Looks like Poncho hit that one right - around my area we put Sonotubes below the frost line (4') then put a post anchor that allows for some circulation under the post. This is similar to what I used for the open deck (the closed in porch - oops!! Did the Sonotubes - then didn't remember to buy the hardware).

Those would have been the way to go but I guess they figured the ground and the concrete poured around them was enuff to hold it. What I'm gonna to is wrap them with one bys that will fit tight between the header and the slab and of course fasten them real good to the post. That should look good and prevent any further problems.

The Wiffy's youngest son suggested that I get some 8' wooden fence boards and rip them to fit - - - - - they are very cheap also and will be painted.

When I built a roof over our front porch,, that was just a small concrete slab porch , and I wanted the porch to run all along the front window, I used what iis called Pier blocks as foundation for the posts, ( out ground is solid clay and solid as hell) they have settled into the ground about a inch in the 30 years we have been here, so I'm gonna call it good nuff,, I do want to( Read That My WIFE wants me To) build a different style fachia aroun the post, I'll put it off as long as possable tho,,,

Those would have been the way to go but I guess they figured the ground and the concrete poured around them was enuff to hold it. What I'm gonna to is wrap them with one bys that will fit tight between the header and the slab and of course fasten them real good to the post. That should look good and prevent any further problems.

The Wiffy's youngest son suggested that I get some 8' wooden fence boards and rip them to fit - - - - - they are very cheap also and will be painted.

Those fence boards should work fne,, do they sell cedar fencing down yonder?

When I redid the front porch, I used ordinary 1" by treated lumber to wrap the treated 4 bys. If I recall, 1x4 on the sides with 1x6 on the front and back. That way, the 3-1/2" actual width of 4x4's had two sides with flush to the two edges trim and two sides had an overlap/shadow line. I didn't have to rip anything to width and that treated wood was cheap. I waited several weeks for them to dry then painted the columns - and 6-8 years later, still have all their paint.

Pretty big job for an old phart but I got them wrapped yestitty and was going to paint them today but it's been misting and high humidity so I need to wait a day or so. The ruff cedar was tuff to impossible to get all corners perfect so I'll have to rasp/plane or fill some before painting also. I sure do like the 6" look better than the original 4".

Much nicer with the bigger column look - mine were originally cedar 4x4s as well. A couple neighbors have copied what I did with my redo. You could probably have eliminated the second from the left if there was a decent support beam, and it would have opened the porch up some more.

Looks great Meller.. I agree with the 6" look , That cedar will never rot,,( like you really G,A, S, ) it is used alot up here in the NW.. fences . decks, shake roofs, altho its getting pretty expensive just like everything else

EDIT is it a illusion or is the right side distance from the concrete to the top of the post longer, like maybe the slab is lower on that side.. probablt the way I am looking at the picture,,,,

Bad Rat wrote:EDIT is it a illusion or is the right side distance from the concrete to the top of the post longer, like maybe the slab is lower on that side.. probablt the way I am looking at the picture,,,,

Sherry said the same thing as we were leaving the driveway yesterday but the tape measure says they are both the same. Must be one of those "Octopus-tickle" thangs.

The edge of the porch roof appears to be parallel in the picture with the siding as well as the main roof ridgeline - so, like playing with horse shoes and hand grenades - it's close enough.

What you are seeing is this:

"parallax error occurs when the line of sight or measure is not at right angles ( perpendicular ) to the objects being measured. Any distance between the object and the measuring reference ( for example a rule ) will cause a misreading. This error will increase as the distance between the object and the reference increases."

(borrowed from Answers.com)

If you fool around with cameras, you try to eliminate this if you can. You, in person, don't see it. Your brain makes the adjustment. In a picture, there are no three dimension, only two, so no way that those brain changes can be done

Wow, "old" Dave, I've been watching that front blast thru the mid-West and your area and can't believe the weather we've been having. Ah, but it's Texas and I know all too well that it ain't over yet. Good Luck to Y'all and stay safe.

I hope you're right, Mego, but this morning the Waco weatherman said that we will have some more cold temps before this is over. I do know that things are starting to bud and bloom but that doesn't really mean anything cause I remember it snowing on Easter weekend in Southeast Texas back in the early 80s. He also said that we were 16 degrees above the average normal highs. I worked on the porch and some other things without a shirt on yestiddy because I was sweating so much.

My oldest son will be glad to hear that winter is still around up there cause he's going to Colorado sking with his son and another couple and their son on the 11th and the ski areas have been hurting for the white stuff.